The Summer Ride

We Canadians put up with a lot of, ‘scuse my French, sh*t: lousy exchange rates, overpriced cars, Americans constantly mocking us for using the word “eh,” and 5 to 6 long, horrible, hellish months of frigid cold weather known as winter. And yet, we continue to live here and love our great nation.

Why?

Because in the coming weeks we’ll be blessed with 3 (hopefully 4) glorious months of warm, bright days known as summer. Ah, summer in Canada is a wonderful, fantastic, amazing thing; and not just because the women all wear less, the days are longer and the temperature is consistently above 20 degrees Celsius.

What exactly is The Summer Ride? Well, it’s every Canadian’s automotive companion that’s painstakingly stored somewhere safe, dry and warm come November and emerges once again, blinking from the bright sun and tentative on the broken Quebec roads, to roam the streets again come the end of March.

Yes, The Summer Ride is easy to spot: pristine body (rust-free and always shining from a recent rubdown); fancy footwear (summer rims and low-pro rubber shoes); and a flair for speed on open stretches of road, The Summer Ride is a beautiful beast. And I’m so glad their back on the road.

From Porsches to Subarus (yes, some people store their Subaru WRXs and STIs through the winter… blasphemy in my honest opinion), they emerge from their dark garages in all their splendor. Exhaust notes rumbling, bass notes bumping, The Summer Ride owns the road in every which way.

And when it comes to Canadian Summer Rides, they’re even more glorious because they’ve been kept under wraps for those cold, long winter months. Dragging out The Summer Ride means the beginning of a season that’s much too short, but oh so sweet.

If you like cars and you like to drive, may I recommend visiting Montreal in the summer months. I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ll say it again: Quebecers lover their cars. And never is that more apparent than in the summer months.

A few weeks ago, we were teased with 30-degree weather in March. Truly Mother Nature was being a bit of a tease that week, but we relished in it, especially the car nuts. In one day alone I saw two Ferraris and a Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder in my neighbourhood (and I don’t live in a 90210-type area, trust me). Convertibles were topless, stereos were blasting and paint jobs were shining. A white Audi R8 flashed its brash self past me on the highway, MINIs played in parking lots and I even spotted a few carefree, topless smart cars. Fabulous.

There’s something about driving The Summer Ride that’s truly unique. Perhaps it’s the knowledge that when you’re behind the wheel of your Summer Ride you’ve shed your heavy winter parka, thrown the snow brush to the back of your garage and you no longer have to worry about waiting for the car to warm up before you head out on your journey. Perhaps it’s a pride thing; The Summer Ride is often more a reflection of one’s personality than The Winter Beater.

Sometimes, The Summer Ride isn’t a different vehicle entirely. Sometimes it’s a matter of putting on a new pair of shoes (just like our Rex) to give your ride the right amount of warm-weather oomph to join the ranks.

Whatever you do to enjoy the short summer months in Canada, I hope you enjoy them behind the wheel of a vehicle that brings a smile to your face on and off the road.